In Wednesday’s (6/20) Los Angeles Times, Reed Johnson and David Ng report, “This spring, opera in Los Angeles has been winning praise for its daring and diversity. A boldly abstract version of ‘Don Giovanni’ staged by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. An edgy multimedia opera, ‘Crescent City,’ presented by The Industry. … This operatic blossoming has been good for local audiences, but it has raised awkward questions and touched a sensitive nerve in the city’s arts community. That’s because none of those productions belongs to Los Angeles Opera, which for a quarter-century has been the city’s only full-time opera company. And one of them is a production from its colleague across the street, the L.A. Phil … One L.A. Opera board member, Leslie Dorman, wrote a letter to L.A. Phil President Deborah Borda to express her displeasure, sources confirmed. … L.A. Opera and L.A. Phil administrators insist there’s no conflict between their institutions, which are neighbors on downtown’s Grand Avenue and have a long history of cooperation and collaboration, they said. … Marc Scorca, president and chief executive of the service organization Opera America, said U.S. symphonies are performing more opera than ever before.” About orchestras performing operas, Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, notes, “I would speculate that it may have to do with the theatrical aspect of opera. The visual component of opera is a compelling one.”
Posted June 21, 2012
